I was really excited to write a review about BlueHost, mainly because I’ve heard of all the good things about them. There are so many web hosts out there, whereas there is only a few good and honest reviews, it’s really hard to tell who’s good and who isn’t.

By looking at the BlueHost.com web site, the company seems to be a professional web host. A neat and tidy web site without those unnecessary content, clearly displayed contact information, plenty of wonderful awards (from legitimate places), and grammatically correct text on site, all help make BlueHost appears to be a formidable web host. There’s a great feature (that seems to be awfully rare in other web hosts) is that BlueHost provides a demo of their control panel (a very slightly customized cPanel using the X skin) that actually works. It’s indeed a great feature that allows you to review how cPanel works, and what you are actually getting if you sign up.

BlueHost Features and Pricing

The features BlueHost provides seem pretty sufficient with all of the necessary features of a web host such as cPanel, multiple database support, FTP, email, etc. BlueHost’s package features 1500 GB of diskspace, and 15,000 GB of bandwidth. There’s a limited number of databases (50 each for MySQL and Postgre) and more FTP and email accounts than you could ever use (1,000 and 5,000, respectively). Unlimited numbers of add-on domains, parked domains, and subdomains are given. Pricing varies depending how long you sign up for:

• 12 Months: $7.95/month (no setup fee, free domain included)
• 24 Months: $6.95/month (no setup fee, free domain included)

cPanel Control Panel

Two clicks later from the main page, I was into the cPanel control panel. If you know about cPanel, you can probably skip this paragraph. It’s all very standard. You have the same SQL, subdomain, email, etc. features as every other cPanel. There’s a few nice add-ons such as a domain manager, a sitebuilder, and some options to manage your account. BlueHost has Fantastico, which from what I saw, was up-to-date with the latest stable versions of all of the scripts. The cPanel went very fast and did everything it was supposed to do. It has a Getting Started Wizard which helps and guides you to do the initial setup. This is extremely helpful especially for those who is new to cPanel.

Script Installation

Like a lot of cPanel hosts, BlueHost supports addon domains. I set up a few addon domains, and everything worked well, and without any problems. BlueHost doesn’t allow SSH/Shell Access by default, but says it will enable shell access for your account if you fax a copy of your driver’s license, passport, etc. to them. I installed some basic scripts (a blog, a CMS, a forum) without any problems. Speed was about average, and BlueHost seems to keep up in terms of software updates and the like.

Term of Service

BlueHost has a very unique Terms of Service - there’s no legal jargon at all. It’s just some bullet points on a page with the major points included in most Terms of Service agreements. The shady point is “All activities may be monitored, recorded, and examined by any authorized person, including law enforcement.” with a semi-shady “Any violation found or fraudulent activity that system personnel deem inappropriate may have your account immediately terminated without notice and any recorded evidence reported to authorized persons.” However, in fairness to BlueHost, the points are quite clear, and not hidden within a 4-page agreement.

BlueHost Support

I used the “Live Chat” that is always available on the main page of Bluehost.com. After filling the necessary information, I was chatting with someone within about 30 seconds. I asked some questions: Do you support mod_rewrite (Yes); Do you support mod_security (didn’t know, but checked); Do you keep your Fantastico up-to-date with the latest versions (Yes); Support was nice enough, and keep to know what they were talking about. The representative obviously wasn’t reading from a prompt (as there is no delay with answers).

I further to chat with the BlueHost support out with some more complicated issues that an average webmaster may run across. I asked questions: Does BlueHost support PHP5 (they have two servers that do, and can move your account if needed); if they support Ruby on Rails (nope), and if I should use ‘localhost’ as my host name with the script I was trying to install (Yes).

All and all, BlueHost seems like a very good web host. The company certainly has put in efforts, has their act together and by all means can be labelled as a top quality web host with great features and support.

I did sign up an account with Bluehost. After one day, it was suspended due to the some security reason and I was needed to submit more documents for verification. I submitted the documents while chatting with the Bluehost support using “Live Chat”, I requested him to expedite my case and without question, he indeed expedited the case for me. Within minutes, my account was re-activated.

Pros:

Good control panel (cPanel) with a few nice extras, plenty of space and bandwidth, excellent support, fair pricing.

Cons:

Semi-shady points in Term of Service, however, there is nothing too major, and they are all clearly outlined.

Bottomline:

BlueHost is a good web host that provides a good hosting experience with a top-of-the-line control panel as well as helpful and professional support for a reasonable price.

Rating:

5 / 5